50 The Holy Swords pt1
In the week following Alduin's relocation, his residence had acquired two portals, one leading to Sovngarde and the other to Walburga's home. This significantly simplified gathering the Dovah in one place.
For now, he had decided against legitimizing Morgan and Xuelan, rightly reasoning with Walburga that five gifted assistants appearing out of thin air would seem overly suspicious and attract unnecessary attention.
Meanwhile, Morgana was being trained in the intricacies of Dovah life, though progress was slower than Alduin would have liked, despite the constant presence of Xuelan, who was helping with the training.
Somwhere in Sovngarde.
Alduin gazed thoughtfully at the clear sky of Sovngarde, perched on a rock beside Morgana, who was breathing heavily after her training.
"You know," He said after Morgana's latest mistake. "I can always change the Shout you're using to refine your control over your Voice to another"
"Say, Fire Breath or Whirlwind Sprint." Alduin turned toward her. "Maybe then, you'll have the motivation to take this seriously. As a consolation, you can credit the fact that each word of Unrelenting Force now invokes an effect according to its meaning, rather than the effect of the whole Shout."
"What do you mean?" asked Morgan, swaying slightly. Alduin had been making her do push-ups, sit-ups, and jumps, all while reciting words of power and then repeating them in Dovahzhul on his command. The outcome was dismal: she would fly up and fall, painfully striking the ground, or at best, she simply fell. If it weren't for a recalled Minor Healing spell and a new, more robust body, she would constantly have to ask Krahnahkriin, a Frost Dragon who was skilled in the Restoration school, to heal her.
"And don't look at me like I'm a tyrant of some sort. As you train your Voice in this way, you're improving your Restoration magic." Alduin remarked, narrowing his eyes. "Or did you think I wouldn't notice?"
"Can you stop talking about me as if I'm a character from a game?" Morgana shot back.
"You know, it would actually explain a lot.." Alduin said, contemplating the idea.
"But let's return to your initial question. Sit down and listen well, for you're about to witness Me philosophizing in the manner of Paarthurnax," said Alduin with a grave tone in his voice, causing Morgana to chuckle.
"So, what is the Shout Unrelenting Force? It's a Shout composed of three words: Fus, meaning 'force,' Ro – balance, and Dah – push. What does this Thu'um do?" He asked Morgana.
"It knocks down, sometimes throws back."
"Correct. Such is the purpose of this Shout, which can be interpreted as 'Push the Unbalanced.'"
"Isn't it 'Force to Disrupt Balance'?" She asked, wondering.
"Your interaction with Viinturuth seems to be paying off." Said Alduin, standing and pacing back and forth in the manner of a seasoned professor. "Your assumption makes sense if you disregard how this Thu'um is formed. The first word is spoken by you during inhalation, the flow of air directed at you, or from the target. You say Fus, and the energy stream is drawn from the surroundings, that is, you absorb power into yourself. Then comes the quick Ro, indicating from where you take the power, in other words, you unbalance your opponent. After this, during exhalation, the word Dah is pronounced, and the air bursts outward, symbolizing the directed energy stream into the environment. You imbue the energy into the word, the meaning of which is push, hence you push your target away from you. Therefore, the full Thu'um means 'Push the Unbalanced.'
"So, when I use Unrelenting Force from a single Word, I say it on the exhale, and essentially stun the enemy with force?"
"Oh, so your brain has finally decided to grace us with its presence? Yes, you're correct. When you speak the Thu'um in two words, you say 'Fus' on the inhale, and a loud 'Ro' on the exhale, thus achieving 'unbalance'."
"So, that's why enemies fall as if they've been hit on the head?"
"Exactly. Here's your homework. Reflect on the Shouts and their meaning. As you've noticed, each Thu'um consists of three Words. The first is spoken on the inhale, indicating the direction 'from', the second word points to something and is quickly spoken on the exhale. The third word is spoken on the exhale, indicating the direction of force 'into'. Let's take the Thu'um Become Ethereal as an example. What words does it consist of?"
"Fade, Spirit, and Bind." Morgana answered without hesitation
"Correct. You inhale 'Feim' – which means fade – the meaning of this Word already has a certain direction, but in this case, you are directing it at yourself. If you say this word on the exhale, you become invisible, no more. Then comes the short 'Zii' – spirit - indicating the object of influence, and 'Gron' – bind – which further indicates the object of influence of the first word. But in this case, this Word should be understood not as 'bind', but as 'shell'. So, it results in – the shell of the spirit disappears. That is, the flesh. You will need to think about the Shouts of Storm Call, Fire Breath, and Ice Form. They are the simplest."
Alduin halted his pacing, and locked his gaze into Morgana's eyes.
"Also, in battle," he continued, "when you need to react quickly, using the whole Shout may not always be advantageous. So, what if you could invoke only a specific part of the Shout to get the desired effect?"
Alduin paused briefly before giving her a pat on the shoulder.
"My recommendation is to pay attention to your breath when using the Thu'um. It will guide your thoughts in the right direction."
Morgana instinctively brought her hands to her cheeks, lightly patting them a few times.
"Had someone told me that the World-Eater himself would teach me the Shouts," she responded, "I would have beheaded him without a second thought."
"Had someone told me earlier that I would teach a Dragonborn to be a proper Dovah, I would have left this person a pile of ashes, as well as a scorched desert where the conversation took place." Alduin let out a low chuckle.
"But why didn't Paarthurnax and the Greybeards tell me anything about this?"
"Perhaps it was not in their interest for you to know this. Perhaps Paarthurnax forgot this when he lost the ability to turn any phrase into a Shout."
Morgana looked at Alduin, the cogs of her mind visibly spinning.
"Turning any phrase into a Thu'um?" she echoed in disbelief, "Could I do that?"
"This is a privilege of a Dovah, of Legendary level or higher. Of those now living, only I, Viinturuth, and Odahviing can do this. Now for some facts not related to the lesson. As all Dovah, except you and Xuelan, live in the mortal world, Nirn, including me, you need to know everyone's pseudonyms. For disguise, we use human names, since knowing a creature's true name can be used to gain control over it. The roots of this knowledge go far into the past, even before your birth. Even though I doubt that anyone will have the strength to achieve this, I decided to take necessary precautions. Just in case someone finds ancient ruins and can read all those Nordic scribbles left after the Tongues..."
"Ruins? That's unlikely. They began to deteriorate a thousand years ago, and a million years later there shouldn't have been a trace of them."
"You're right, but only partially. Significant settlements were always built using magic. For the Dragon Cult, these were Skuldafn, Labyrinthian, Forelhost, Ragnvald, and Bromjunaar. For the Ayleids, these were Vilverin, Sercen, Nenalata, Miscarcand, Lipsand Tarn, Garlas Malatar, Veyond, and Atatar. For the Dremora of Dagon, I only remember Damarask. And the magic couldn't have completely faded in them. Now, the names. Krahnahkriin is now Margaret. Odahviing is now Oga Vinx, Midgarstrun is Matthias Surille, Kreinzulfen is Walburga, and I am Hyodo Tatsumi."
"I see you're knowledgeable not only about the Nords. Where did you learn about the Ayleids?"
"Do you think all I did was fly, destroy, and shout Thu'ums? Let it be known to you that Alessian Slave Rebellion, as you call it, was the only event in which Lorkhan and Akatosh indirectly participated on the same side. Lorkhan through his avatar, the knight Pelinal Whitestrake, and Akatosh sent me. Or did you think that a crowd of unorganized slaves destroyed half of the Ayleid city-states? Or that some Ayleid princes voluntarily joined this unwashed crowd?"
"But weren't you banished?!"
"Do you still believe that three mortals managed to seal Akatosh's Firstborn in the Scroll, which is not even one of the three Elder Scrolls, and that I floated around in the unknown for almost four thousand years? And this considering the fact that in order to truly banish me, the gods and the Daedric Princes had to all gather together and unite, which hasn't happened since the council in the Adamantine Tower? At most, what the Tongues managed to do was to forbid me to appear in Skyrim. As for the rest of Nirn, there was no question. Such is the limitation of mortal mind, but Akatosh backed them up, allowing me to emerge into Nirn only twice."
"Huh?" Morgana said with surprise, "That was completely different from what I read in the books."
"You know, there's a reason they say that paper can endure anything. So, I've given you your homework, and now I need to visit the Pits of Peryite."
"Why would you go to the plague plane?"
"I recently had a heated conversation with Lorkhan..."
"Someone decided to remember that he's the World-Eater," Lorkhan's voice echoed across the clearing where Alduin was teaching Morgana. "I looked at the Heart, Alduin."
"And what's the verdict?" Alduin asked Lorkhan, who had stepped onto the clearing.
"I agree with your arguments about cutting off those worlds that parasitize on Nirn's energy. But I won't allow you to destroy the worlds that support their own existence" replied the owner of Sovngarde.
'As if you have a choice' Alduin mentally snorted.
----
The Pits
A black cloud appeared in the sky over Machu Picchu, the capital of the sector belonging to the Incan gods. The cloud quickly grew, drawing the attention of the dimension's inhabitants.
Suddenly, within the dark cloud, two red lights ignited, akin to the eyes of a monstrous creature.
A ground-shaking roar reverberated through the air, and a gargantuan dragon, cloaked in a shroud of seething black flames, erupted from the cloud with terrifying velocity.
Descending like a vengeful tempest upon the transfixed onlookers, it unleashed a torrent of fire from its maw, incinerating everything it touched. Stone, wood, metal and life itself — all were consumed by the indiscriminate, devastating inferno.
The dragon ascended into the air and circled the city, decimating it at a record pace. With every thousand slain, it grew larger and larger. When it had grown so colossal that its wings blotted out the sky, the dragon flew towards the sector owned by the Aztec gods. Each stroke of its wings unfurled a rain of black flames that fell to the earth, eradicating everything they touched.
The world's inhabitants attempted to flee the dimension under attack, but their efforts proved fruitless. Their realm seemed to be isolated, leaving them no choice but to face impending doom.
All counter-offensives aimed at repelling the dragon's brutal onslaught failed.
The Dragon didn't even try to defend himself. He didn't have to.
As he flew by with a regal indifference, the sheer force radiating from him rent one of the supreme gods asunder. Within a fleeting hour, the once flourishing world was reduced to a blazing desert, yet the dragon's insatiable hunger remained unquenched.
Flying into interdimensional space, the dragon prepared to devour the obliterated world.
Alduin — for no other entity could orchestrate such a calamity — began to grow in size.
He was named the World Eater for a reason — capable of literally devouring worlds, his true form was so colossal that he could easily swallow any Daedric plane. Alduin assumed this terrifying form only once, at the time of his birth. For the rest of his existence, he deliberately minimized himself to a size that allowed for comfortable navigation within the mortal world.
Assuming his true form, Alduin swallowed the world once known as Peryite's Pits.
The instant his jaws sealed shut, the devoured plane was eradicated from the face of the Universe, erased from the Cycle of Time and the River of Souls.
Alduin then promptly reverted to his usual size, wishing not to exert undue influence on the surrounding realms beyond necessity and vanished into the void in a white flash.
